An Annoyed Spy and a Wave of Pure Madness
by Natto'n'aliens
Summary: What if brave 10's story was part of the present world? If Saizou wasn't a shinobi, but a spy? Yukimura a rich man seeking 10 braves in order to fulfill a secret and dangerous plan? Isanami a young dancer owning something she's not supposed to? please r&r
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own Brave 10 or any of its characters._

_Enjoy _'talking' _thinking _nothing (just for the rime XD))

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His black clothes waved gently as he hurried down the street, soundless. His green eyes were half closed as he made his way through the crowd, avoiding loosely the obstacles. He was a shadow in the street. Every step he took made him more and more invisible to the rest of the world. He held his breath for a little bit, in an attempt to hide himself even more.

'Saizou!'

_How has she done?_ He thought, exasperated and amazed at the same time. _How has she seen through my absolute camouflage so easily, even though the one I was avoiding the most was HER?_

«Saizou!» Isanami called happily once again.

_Oh, no... I see troubles..._ He thought, walking faster, trying to pay no attention to the annoying girl running beside him.

At this very moment, Isanami's foot bumped into the only stone in the whole street and she crashed onto the ground. She sat up as slowly as one could, started to cry soundly, calling Saizou again like she was going to die.

_Lots of them._

_._

_First chapter done!^^_

_Tell me what you think, review!_


	2. A violent first meeting

To Chickedy-pea thank you so much for your review! You made me want to continue writing this fanfic I know it was a little short; well, this new chapter is a little longer, so enjoy and tell me what you think about it as well!

_Disclaimer: I do not own Brave 10 or any of its characters._

** .**

**Chapter 1: a violent first meeting**

'Okay, I've walked all day with you, now leave me alone!' Saizou shouted at a teary Isanami.

'I already said I'm sorry...' she said with a tiny voice, staring at her feet. She looked up with hope in her eyes, and gave him the most begging look she had, trying hard to convince him she would be no burden to him, unsuccessfully.

The spy just sighed and kept walking, thinking about the crazy events of the past days and how they would have been way more peaceful if Isanami hadn't been clinging to him _the whole time_.

They had met a couple of days ago, in the middle of Saizou's infiltration mission in the most dangerous Yakuza family of Tokyo. He was used to infiltration missions, and was particularly good at not being seen and retrieving information from other people. His fellow spies often thought that if he was born during the Feudal Era, he would have been a shinobi for sure. The way his body was built, with strong but still slim muscles, the way he moved without the slightest sound, the way he could handle all sorts of weapons with ease... Saizou was really a genius when it came to working alone. Although when it came to pair work, the young man became ill-at-ease. He insisted that he preferred working alone, and he was so good that even his boss couldn't resist his demand.

So one more time, Saizou was all by himself, trying to find a way of entering the building where the Yakuza leader had his headquarters without drawing to much attention. He figured the best way remained to present himself before the gang members controlling the comings and goings at the main door. Fortunately for him, it was already dark and the guards weren't paying much attention to their surroundings, and he could slip in the building with ease.

He started walking in the corridors, knowing more or less where to go. He soon arrived in front of a huge door, and he knew right away he was getting closer to his goal. _They're not trying very hard to be discreet_, the spy thought, a mischievous smile forming on his lips. He pulled himself together, ready for what was coming... or not.

At the very moment his hand reached the door, soundless, he felt something heavy falling on his back, then crashing on the floor with a big 'boom!' that signed the end of his mission and the beginning of what he called sarcastically the 'fun parts of his job'.

Saizou took two seconds to see what exactly had _fallen_ on him and ruined his mission. He realized with amazement that it was a girl with long azure hair tied in a ponytail. She wore rather... thin clothes for the season. She was unconscious. The spy cursed as he saw the numerous guards rush towards him and the girl, holding all kinds of weapons. He looked frantically around him for a possible escape. When his eyes registered the open window at the end of the corridor, he started breathing again.

The guards were now surrounding him, suspicious. Saizou didn't even try talking to them. Even if he actually _were_ part of the Yakuza, he would still be killed for sure, just for drawing attention to him. All he could think about was this window that consisted in his last chance to get out of here alive.

A weird status quo had now set up, each of the men waiting for someone to move first. That's when the girl lying on the floor next to Saizou woke up. She whined in pain and then slowly opened her eyes, unaware of the situation she was in. With an inward sigh, Saizou decided he could not leave her in the middle of this bunch of villains. Especially after he saw the look of pure terror that crossed her features when she saw those men. Even though it was going to be hard to keep them both alive.

In a swift movement, he broke the status quo, practically throwing the blue haired girl on his back, ignoring her cry of protest, and made his way to the window. Fast. He jumped across the guards, landing only a few meters away from the blessed window. He was already halfway when the first guard reacted, shouting 'get to him!' to his fellows to wake them up.

Several seconds later, all hell broke loose. He was already far away.


	3. Isanami

_Hey guys! Ready for a new chapter? ^^ Thank you for your kind review Yami-leira, keep telling me what you think about my story please! =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Brave 10 or any of its characters._

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**Chapter 2: Isanami**

_Sh*t!_, Saizou yelled inwardly when he wasn't able to reach the rope on his back. The girl he was holding really wasn't helping them to stay alive! The spy hadn't realized, but the corridor he was in just some seconds ago was on the fifth floor of the building! And now he was in midair, trying desperately to figure something out. If he didn't do something very quickly, all he had done to save the girl from the Yakuza would have been for nothing... as they would just crash on the concrete floor. Hard.

He suddenly saw what was going to save them both: a mattress was laying in the alley, an old one with springs sticking out of it from all sides, and big brown stains all over its fabric. _It's no time to be picky about things!, _he thought, relieved that there actually _was_ a mattress for them to land on.

He grabbed the gutter of the building with one bare hand, the other one holding the girl tightly to him, and managed to veer them both to the left, just above the mattress. His hand was all scratched in the process, but he didn't pay attention to it one bit, landing rather harshly on the once soft surface.

Barely four seconds had passed.

He immediately jumped to his feet and began running along the alley and to the boulevard, glancing at the window. The guards were obviously just realizing what happened, and figuring the two were probably dead after such a high jump. Saizou smirked. But then he remembered his spoiled mission, and frowned deeply, hoping the girl he had helped wouldn't bring bad luck.

During their fall, the girl in question had fainted again, which wasn't that bad, considering the rather... loud reaction she had given when thrown on the spy's back.

. . .

Saizou kept on running long after he was out of the building, his instinct yelling to him that it wasn't safe to stop. Deciding that running around in the night with an unconscious girl on his back wasn't the best way to remain unnoticed, he stopped at a family restaurant still open at this late hour, propped the girl on the bench of a table and sat next to her. Then he began waking her up, stroking gently her hair to make her feel secure after what she must have lived in that damn building.

It took him several minutes, but eventually she started moving, opening her eyes ever so slowly, and rubbing them lazily. When she saw the spy, she just smiled knowingly and whispered 'thank you'.

'Are you okay?' he asked, slightly worried, seeing her skin full of bruises and cuts.

'Thank you!' she repeated, throwing her arms around his neck and beginning to sob uncontrollably. Saizou, not knowing what to do, patted her back a little. After several long minutes of awkward comforting, a loud rumble could be heard, coming from the spy's belly. The girl broke her embrace on Saizou and smiled at him again, her nose and eyes puffy from too much crying.

'You hungry? Well, let me treat you to some dinner as a payback! By the way, I'm Isanami!'

'Saizou.', he said, relieved.

Isanami ordered noodles for both of them. They ate in silence, each of them eager to satisfy their hunger. To the spy's surprise, his frail fellow ordered dish after dish, taking them down at light speed, stuffing the food in her mouth and swallowing at the same time. Whoa._.. She really has an appetite...,_ he considered in wonder. He then recalled his empty wallet and stopped her before she could order anything more.

'Oy... do you have enough money for all that?' he asked, concerned.

The girl looked at him with blank eyes, and slowly shook her head no, giggling recklessly. Saizou just glared at her, cursing quietly.

'Run!' he heard her say in his back, and then he felt a small hand slide into his, making him wince a bit in pain, for it was his injured hand. She raced before him, laughing as they had to escape from the angry employees.

'We ate a lot, didn't we?' she asked him, breathless but totally gleaming.

'Teme...' _(__AN:__ Teme is a Japanese insult... Saizou often calls Isanami like that at the beginning of the anime)_ the spy growled in a _very_ threatening voice, causing the girl to pout.

'Okay, sorry about that... But still, we were able to have a proper meal, right?' she looked up only to find... no one. Saizou was walking in the opposite direction from her, his back showing how pissed he was.

. . .

'I... I don't have a place to return to any more.' Her declaration was followed by a heavy silence. Two piercing eyes bore into her soul as she moved on with her story. 'I don't have a mom or a dad. I grew up in a temple. The monks there... I considered them as family. In return, they loved me for who I was. During these years, I learnt the true meaning of _happiness_.' Tears ran down her cheeks as she remembered. 'A few days ago, I learnt happiness could not last forever.'

There was another silence, only broken by her sobs. The dark emerald eyes never left her form, but no movement was attempted to comfort. 'A few days ago,' she managed to say with her broken voice, 'a bunch of Yakuza showed up at the temple, destroying every piece of it and killing every one. Every one except... me. The superior monk, the man who found me on this snowy day and decided to bring me up, made me hide in a little praying room. He locked it. I was so terrified by what was happening that I didn't even try to come out... I... I let them _die_!'

She thrust her nails into her skin and blood ran out of it. She was trembling with guilt and rage. It was harder and harder for her to control her breathe. She forced herself to calm down though and continued.

'They killed every one, one by one, under my terrified eyes. After their blood lust was satisfied, they destroyed everything, thinking like that they would find me and the thing I have to protect... They did. But I managed to escape their claws at one point and hide... well, where you found me.' Her last words were barely audible.

The young spy who had listened to her so far decided to relegate questions to the day after, and slipped a hand on her shoulder, whispering:

'It's over now, don't worry, tomorrow I'm bringing you to a safe place. Now try sleeping a little bit.'

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

So that's it for now!

I realized afterward this chapter is really gloomy, especially the end... I'll try and make the next chapter a little bit funnier!

Please review, so that I can know what to improve and what to keep ^^ See you


	4. A batch of cookies, please!

_Hey minna! Today's the day! XD I've prepared an action-full chapter just for you ^^ suspense!_

_Thank so much again Yami-leira! =) please keep on reading and telling me what you think! Hope you keep on liking the story... ^^_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Brave 10 or any of its characters._

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**Chapter 3: a batch of cookies decorated with angry Yakuza, please!**

'I need to talk to you...' the young minister said, clearly unsure of his decision.

'About Cookie-Chan, right?' his friend guessed with a playful smile on his lips. He was obviously having fun with the man's discomfort and practically sang his answer.

'Yes', he admitted sheepishly. 'We...we can't protect Cookie properly anymore. The mafia is seeking ways to get to the Key, and if we don't do something very quickly, the situation is going to become-'

'Well, I don't see how that concerns me', the other man cut, his smile widening. 'I'm not the one to blame here...' he let his insinuations get to the poor minister, who seemed totally oblivious of the fact he was being teased and began denying his responsibility vehemently.

_So predictable_, the bully thought, now smiling from ear to ear and barely managing to retain his laughter.

'Of course I'm going to help you, you brat!' With that he put a soothing hand on the man's shoulder for him to recover his composure. 'Am I not the most reliable man on this little round planet: Lord Sanada Yukimura? Am I not the'

At this point, the ministry stopped listening, knowing it would do him only good. He still looked up to his friend, and cleared his throat to cut off the annoying self-praising speech of his, nonetheless, _savior_. When he didn't get the expected reaction (for he got _no_ reaction at all), he bumped him on the head, and Yukimura hopefully stopped talking for a second.

Sighing heavily (man was this person tiring!), he cleared his throat again, and told him with a grateful tone to meet him tomorrow afternoon in his office to discuss the matters regarding the protection of Cookie. He didn't dare add his pessimistic thoughts, so sent his message with only his eyes, before exiting the room and vanishing into the night.

_Good luck... You'll need it._

.

'Thank you again, Ana, for letting us stay at your place', the spy whispered to his colleague, uncomfortable with the current situation. If one thing, he_ hated_ depending on others, especially for such a ridiculous reason as surviving a bloodthirsty troop of Yakuza. Damn.

'It's okay! What wouldn't I do for my dear friend?' his blonde fellow answered with a wink.

Saizou sighed, wondering when he would be able to walk carefree in the streets again (translation: when he would be ridden of that irritating blue haired girl who brought him exclusively trouble). In a way, he pitied Isanami and wanted to help her the best he could. But whenever he thought of her (and he tended to think of her _a lot_ lately, much to his dismay), a pissed feeling made its way to his mind and wouldn't leave before long. Like now.

'Saizou!' her voice called for the umpteenth time this day, coming from the bedroom. 'Come sleep with me!'

Ana chuckled lightly at a grumpy spy.

'Don't tell it that way!' he shouted at her, and earned the most innocent 'why?' he had ever heard. The beautiful blonde burst out laughing at that answer, hitting the wooden table where she sat at with her fist and holding her stomach. Poor Saizou lost his temper completely, choosing sleep over his crazy friend.

In his futon, he couldn't help but think about the chaos he was being dragged in, and about... Isanami. Thousands of questions popped up in his head at once. What was this thing Isanami had to protect? The Yakuza were trying hard to get their claws on it... Was it so dangerous? And how the _hell_ did this little girl manage to escape their watch? The Yakuza were truly no choirboys... She must have hidden qualities (_very_ well hidden qualities, in his opinion).

More importantly, the spy needed to find another place to stay. Ana had gladly welcomed the both of them for the night, but they would have to move out at dawn, for Ana had a mission to accomplish. _And contacting the agency is not a possibility, seeing as my own mission went..._ he thought bitterly.

Well, he would have to sort this all out tomorrow, now time to sleep at las-

'The bird is in the cage, boss', the spy heard Ana's whispering voice utter. His heart skipped a beat at this. He knew too well what this sentence meant: in the agency, and in the spying world in general, it was said to declare a trap set, and a target soon dead or kidnapped. In his case, soon dead, and in Isanami's, soon kidnapped, he guessed, a sense of horror hitting him.

_Why even Ana...? _he thought for a second, before recalling the boss' speech on his first day as a spy:

_'From now on, no opinions, no friends, and especially no _feelings_. For a client, be prepare to betray your family, your lover, to hurt, to kill. This is the spying world, and I welcome you from the bottom of my heart.'_

Saizou didn't waste time mourning over Ana's betrayal. He turned his head towards Isanami's sleeping form and shook her arm ruthlessly. They needed to act. Fast. She seemed to understand when she finally opened her eyes and he put a finger on her lips to silence her.

You. Me. Out. Now. he managed to gesture, and the blue haired girl nodded, getting up. He went to the door of the little room. Opened it slowly. Shot glances through the corridor._ Seems like the coast is clear._ He was in his element, thinking of nothing but Isanami's and his own survival. He took his fellow by the hand and hurried to the door of Ana's apartment at full speed. He was briefly surprised to see as she could easily follow him, but pushed this thought away to focus on his new 'mission'.

They slipped soundlessly out of the building, wary. Saizou was aware of the strategies usually set up by the agency, and it couldn't mean good to them. There was probably an army of spies out there waiting peacefully for their vain attempts of escape. Perhaps several snipers posted on the roofs of the nearest buildings. Surely enough a bunch of over-trained fighters standing in the shadows right next to the door...

He suddenly let go of Isanami's hand and pivoted to face the door of the building. Right in the bull's eye! Several men were already making a move to neutralize -kill- him. He was faster than them though. He delivered as many well placed kicks and punches as there were opponents, and soon he was standing in front of countless aching bodies laying pitifully on the floor.

However, he would let his ego swell at his exploit later. _If_ there was a later for him.

He grabbed Isanami's hand yet again, and started running to the main street. There, they would be relatively safe.

Too bad his predictions were right. In one second they were surrounded by a herd of cold hearted spies (including Ana) and Yakuza ready to shoot them with one of the multiple guns they held. Saizou cursed inwardly. At least now he knew about the new clients of his agency. As if the mafia wasn't already as powerful as the state... Maybe they just wanted to have their hands clean on this mission. _That doesn't make sense at all!_ The spy burst out inwardly. Suddenly, he was cut short in his thoughts by a whisper coming from his fellow.

'Plan B.' she said, her voice determined.

He sent her a since-when-was-there-even-a-plan-A gaze. The blue haired girl gave a faint smile, the most anxious smile he had ever seen, and pushed her hand away from his, asserting in a loud voice:

'We surrender!'

_What? Wait, you're not going to do that? You brat-_

'Please don't hurt my friend, it's me that you want! I'm willing to collaborate with you!'

Every one seemed to relax after the bold line shouted by the frail girl. There were even some bursts of laughter coming from the circle of assailants. Though Saizou felt miles away from the very idea of laughing. In fact his body had never been so tense. That sort of situations pointed precisely why he couldn't stand working in a team. Because there would always be a kind hearted brat to sacrifice him(her)self for him. Even when he(she) _was _the one to protect!

A man Saizou recognized as one of the best spies in the agency started speaking in a sarcastic tone, not loosening his grip on his deathly weapon:

'And _we_'re willing to collaborate with _you_, dear.' Being a good agent didn't save him from showing his pig side, Saizou thought, feeling utterly sick. Isanami didn't look so well either, seeing as her knees quivered madly.

He kept on clenching and unclenching his fists as the man slowly moved forward, a disgusting cocky smile plastered on his face. The spy guessed it was a silent message addressed to him: _My win_, it said, _now be kind and die a slow death_.

Like he was going to let himself be killed so easily!

With a low growl escaping his lips, he pushed Isanami towards him and away from the disdainful man. He didn't let her go when she attempted to punch his chest to free herself.

His gesture had frozen the entire assembly. He shot a long challenging glare at the man still standing in front of him, his hand reaching the spot where the blue haired girl stood one second ago.

The spy opened his mouth to shout orders, but he was stopped in his tracks when a deafening buzz resonated, coming from the sky. Every one, ally and enemy**, **raised his head to look up and was flabbergasted by the view of a helicopter flying right above the street!

A man with a megaphone appeared at the door of the vehicle, and yelled:

'Attention please, my dears! To Isanami and the spy who is hugging her passionately: I, Lord Sanada Yukimura, am here to save you from all those bad guys... oh, and girls!' he added when he saw Ana's figure. He then threw a rope to them, which Saizou gripped immediately, thinking _I'm not hugging her, dammit, I'm _saving _her! Don't you get the slight difference?_

The helicopter gained height and the two fellows took off.

Below them, their assailants started pointing theirs guns at them, but obviously received orders not to shoot, so instead resigned watching their prey leave right under -or rather _above_- their noses.

Saizou smirked.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

The end, already? Oh, well, I guess I'll never be able to write long chapters... XD

Please review so I know what you think!


	5. The path of truth you'll follow

_Hey guys! At long last, the latest chapter of An Annoyed Spy and a Wave of Pure Madness is ready, just for you to read! Hope you like it! ^^_

_Special thanks to Black Wolf Zombie, SpeedDemon01 (^^)__,__ Meemertree, Chibiko (thank you sooo much, you're always so reliable and sweet and... oh well XD) and XxHate's-A-Strong-WordxX for your heartwarming reviews! =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Brave 10 or any of its characters. _

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**Chapter 4: the path of truth you'll follow... Hey, I never said it was going to be easy!**

'You own us a little explanation, don't you think?' Saizou growled at the annoying man standing next to him and Isanami.

'What a rude little spy!' said man exclaimed, his smile brightening. 'I'm the one who just saved you and that's how you thank me?'

'You didn't do that out of kindness or pity. Men as wealthy as you-' At this point, he gestured to the huge mansion standing in front of them '-always have a hidden motive for doing things.'

He glared at Yukimura, who answered with a playful wink.

Deciding that slaughtering their savior was definitely not the right thing to do at the moment (though he wanted to... hell, he wanted to), the spy turned his back to him, stomping away in the direction of the mansion. A polite butler welcomed him and asked if he wanted to be shown his apartments. He found himself even more pissed when he realized the two he had left behind were inevitably going to enter the mansion as well. _I should have gone the other way..._

The spy walked up to the butler and followed him to a long corridor on the first floor and to a room with hotel-like ornaments. After the departure of the butler, he sat on the bed, thinking. He had pretty much gone through the entire mansion while guided by the man. And a particular room had caught his attention... or rather what he had seen in it.

The door was just like every other door in the house, and if it hadn't been slightly open, he would have just gone past it without a second glance. But an unnatural light was filtering through the opening, so, naturally, Saizou had pushed the door. Silently, to avoid drawing the butler's attention. The interior was a small room devoid of any windows. There was a little table in the center. The light was coming from what seemed like... _A laptop_, Saizou had realized. On the screen were only five words: '_Enter password to access data._'

The spy had briefly wondered what kind of data was kept in the computer, but had been interrupted by the butler who had gently led him out of the room and back to the corridor, muttering he wasn't allowed in this area. _So it's important stuff... _Saizou had understood, gazing at the confused face of the butler, a sly grin playing on his lips. _Worth a little night walk, isn't it?_

. . .

'Don't be mad at Lord Yukimura... He told me he would bring us to the Ministry of Defense tomorrow and explain the whole situation to us.' Isanami said, a sheepish smile on her exhausted face. 'I'm going to bed... Good night...' she added, wrapping herself up in the sheets. Saizou felt a surge of annoyance bubble into his chest as he thought about Yukimura, but shrugged it off, knowing he would be needing all of his concentration for what was coming.

He waited a few minutes for Isanami to fall asleep (wondering mildly why she had to sleep in _his_ room in the first place), and soundlessly slipped out of the room and into the corridor. Luckily for him, the intriguing room was situated in the same part of the mansion as his apartments. He walked to it, sending glances around him to be sure he was alone. Turning the doorknob, and seeing the door was unlocked, he felt a little wary; after all he had clearly shown his interest in the room to the butler... but curiosity won over security, and he sneaked into the room quietly.

Nothing had changed: the laptop was still open with the same five words dancing on its screen.

Spotting a white board filled with writings on the wall behind the computer, the spy neared it and realized it gathered the possible passwords already tested. The word 'cookie' was written in the middle of the surface in capital red letters, and several lines ran along from it to reach other words. He followed one and was not surprised to read the name 'Isanami' at the end of it. Though for an unknown reason, Isanami was linked to 'key' and 'minister of defense'.

He didn't have time to study the board any longer: the doorknob was turned once more, and two voices could be heard, coming from the corridor. The spy froze. This room had absolutely no hiding place!

Saizou hung on to his last straw of hope and raised his head to the ceiling. _Is the room narrow enough to allow me to hide up there? That is the question!_

In one swift movement, he leaned on two of the walls with his hands and feet, beginning his quick ascension to the ceiling. When he arrived he was panting a little but had a dashing view of the two men who entered the room. Hopefully for the spy, they were practically arguing and had stayed at the door for a handful of precious seconds; and they didn't pay attention one bit to his panting.

One of the men was Yukimura. As always he seemed amused by the discussion, and had a bright grin on his face, even when the other man, a tall and slim figure Saizou didn't know, appeared to be pretty pissed. His face gave a feminine aura with his dark blue hair hiding part of it, his deep purple eyes and the tiny beauty spot near his mouth. He wore dark clothes that let his toned stomach show. _And another weirdo enters... _Saizou sighed inwardly.

'I'm telling you it's not a good a good idea.' The blue haired man said, his tone firm but his voice kept low.

'We'll have to tell him eventually, so why not right now?' Yukimura retorted, still smiling.

_Talking about me, huh?_

'Because-' at that moment the thin man sighed heavily, obviously upset. He pulled something from his pocket, a little item glistening in the faint light coming from the laptop. _Oh no_, the spy thought immediately. Fast, the man threw what happened to be a small knife, without a glance at his target. It landed in the center of the word 'cookie', on the white board. '-because Cookie's not a game, and we don't know if he's trustworthy or not.'

_Uh... I thought I was a goner... _Saizou thought, relaxing a bit (as much as someone who is currently holding with his arms and legs on the walls of a room can relax).

After a small silence, Yukimura found something to retort:

'He has saved the Key and kept her with him all this while, of course he is! Come on, you're just thinking too much, as always!'

'He_ is _a danger! Do you want me to prove it?' Yukimura just kept on smiling at that outburst. The man seemed to take it as a 'yes'. He swiftly drew another blade from his pocket, and threw it, obviously confident in his success, this time right at the ceiling.

The spy's heart raced. He reacted as fast as he could, unlocking part of his hold on the walls. The knife merely brushed his scalp.

He emitted a muffled sound as he stopped moving and all the air left his lungs at once. _Great!_ He was now head down, legs still outstretched above him, somehow facing Yukimura. Who was surprisingly enough_ not surprised_.

'Saizou!' he exclaimed happily. 'Having a good night?' he added casually, like it was utterly normal for him to meet a man hung by the feet like a freaking _bat_ in the middle of the night. In a room supposedly _secret_.

The intruder didn't respond, and just jumped off, landing on the floor harmlessly. Standing up, he turned to the blue haired man who had just attempted to kill him.

'What was that for?' he yelled threateningly.

'See, Lord Yukimura?', the man said, his voice as cold as ice, completely ignoring the fuming spy. 'This...' at this point, there was a little blank, like he was searching for an appropriate word to call Saizou. Not finding anything, he continued: '...this _person_ really is a threat.' He had such a tone that Saizou almost felt insulted to be called a 'person'.

The two kept on staring at each other until a friendly hand rested on their shoulder.

'Enough of it already! We're not here to fight but to escort our dear _guest_ to his room!' Yukimura stepped in, pulling them towards the corridor.

A heavy silence settled between the three, only occasionally broken by Yukimura, who failed to lighten the mood.

Saizou was kissed good night on the doorstep of his room (yes, literally. He would remember this night for the rest of his life). He collapsed on the bed next to a soundly sleeping Isanami and fell asleep instantly, his muscles and mind claiming some rest.

. . .

When he had woken up the next morning, Saizou had really meant to _try_ not to behave like the grumpy, moody, annoyed Saizou, knowing their visit to the Ministry would disperse the clouds of ignorance floating in his head. He had really meant to try and be in a _good mood_ for once, since all he had done so far was getting pissed at Isanami, and more recently at Yukimura and the guy from last night – a certain Rokuro (not without a reason, but still).

So when he had greeted a rather hungry Isanami in their (so unfairly... – _no!_) shared room, he was all smiley and went as far as to answer to her 'good morning!' (much to her surprise, obviously. She was already used to the grumpy, moody, annoyed Saizou, sad to say). When they had gone downstairs and seen Yukimura and Rokuro, he had tried to listen to Yukimura's morning speech (though he had glared a bit at the man next to him); when they had left the mansion in an ostentatious shiny limo, he had behaved quite right.

And now he was sitting between a cheery Isanami exclaiming she had had a great breakfast and a cold Rokuro shooting daggers (metaphorically speaking, of course) at him; and he wasn't sure if he could maintain his good mood afloat any longer. He felt his temper (and a great headache) flare dangerously to life, but he closed his eyes and started breathing in and out slowly. To his surprise and pride, he managed _not_ to 1)say to Isanami's face that he didn't give a damn if she had eaten two whole plates of bacon and 2)give in to Rokuro's little game, for the rest of the trip.

Though by the time they arrived at the Ministry of Defense, he was only barely able to put up a neutral face, and jumped out of the limo as fast as he could. Which was very, _very_ fast. They entered the modern building and sat on chairs in what seemed like the waiting room of the Ministry.

Yukimura explained with a somewhat sheepish smile that although the minister was one of his friends, he was still the _Japanese Minister of Defense_, and as such he had a pretty full schedule.

The spy, who had once succeeded in the very perilous mission of entering the Ministry of Defense to retrieve some information about the storing of nuclear weapons in Hokkaido, which also included a little trip to the monitoring room to, err... erase the videos were he appeared, didn't remember anything like a waiting room. But then again, he really hadn't payed attention to every little detail on his way to the minister's office that night, so... Saizou shrugged, trying to stop thinking about it, feeling a tad claustrophobic at the moment.

He sighed, and looked around him. Blinked.

.

.

_Alone_. He was alone in the little waiting room. Standing up abruptly, he walked out of the room at a fast pace, wondering where his fellows could have gone. Had he been that engrossed in his memories that he hadn't noticed them leave without him? Well, obviously, he had.

The spy arrived in another plain room. A big counter stood in the middle of it. He stepped to it and addressed to the secretary, explaining her his... issue. The secretary, a young woman whose name was Sakura, according to the little tag pinned to her spotless blouse, smiled in a mechanical way and answered, her voice as dull as the voices in train stations:

'Yukimura-sama is to have an important meeting with Mr Minister any moment now.'

_Just like I thought... Why must they always do something to piss me off so badly when I try being nice?_ Saizou sulked, murderous intents filling his mind, the expression 'good mood' definitely ruled out of his dictionary.

'Then, could you tell me where he is?' he managed to ask politely to the secretary. 'Because I'm supposed to take part in that meeting.'

'I'm sorry, I can't let you in when I'm not sure of your identity.' Sakura's dull voice asserted. 'Please fill in this form so that we can take in your request.' she said, handing him a little piece of paper.

_What does she think, that I'm a spy in a mission to steal some top secret information? _Saizou thought angrily before realizing that it was exactly what he had done the first time he had come here. A little shameful, he grabbed the form and started filling it. It seemed to him completely useless to do so, but he still answered all the questions and turned it to the secretary.

'Oh, I'm so sorry!' she said as dully as ever when she saw the piece of paper the spy was handing her. 'I gave you the wrong form. This one is for companies. Here, this one is the good one.'

_What is it, a freaking insurance agency?_ Saizou thought grumpily, eying the form and the secretary nastily. Deciding enough was enough, and that he wasn't here to play around with an emotionless secretary, he swiftly turned on his heels, trying to remember the shortest way to the Minister's office. He sped up the pace when he spotted two stoic bodyguards wearing black tuxedos and surely armed to the teeth. Not that two bodyguards were scaring the spy, but there was certainly an _army_ of over-trained men waiting for him to go past them, and he wasn't quite ready for _that_.

So he hurried through the corridors, more and more bodyguards taking part in the race, shouting at him to stop. As he arrived in the corridor he knew led to the right door, he was practically chased by every single bodyguard of Tokyo, and was barely able to outrun them. That's when the spy spotted _him_, chatting nonchalantly with his fellows outside of the office. He cursed inwardly. Yet a great sense of relief hit him, and he sped up a little bit in the last few meters.

He reached the little group just after they had noticed him (or rather, _them_). Isanami waved to him as though the bodyguards running after him didn't even exist. Rokuro smiled in a serves-you-right way that could mean only one thing: he was definitely part of this. Not a surprise here, but still.

Yukimura grabbed him by the collar ruthlessly.

'A little payback for last night. Hope you liked it.' he whispered in his ear, his voice as sweet as ever. Then he released him a gave him his trademark mischievous smile.

_Scary._ Another word to add to Yukimura's already long character list, just between _annoying_ and _egocentric_, the spy thought while trying to recover his composure.

He was utterly astonished. Yukimura had set a whole waiting room in the Japanese Ministry of Defense, had hired a secretary and loads of bodyguards to chase him through the building, created forms for him to fill, _as a payback? _What kind of _prank_ was that? _Powerful_ and _mad_ were quickly added to the list.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

_So? What did you guys think?_

_I think it's the longest chapter I ever wrote in this fanfic... but was it worth it?_

_Promise, the next chapter will provide answers to some of your questions at least ^^ aand you'll get to meet the Japanese Minister of Defense! Isn't it beautiful?_

_Anyways, please review ^^_


	6. At Yuki's, the new bakery!

_Hey guys, and Happy New Year!_

_I know it's been a long time, I hope you haven't forgotten all about this little story... Because I'm back!_

_First, thanks SpeedDemon01, XxHate's-A-Strong-WordxX, Chibiko and Yami-leira for your heartwarming reviews! Oh I'm so addicted to reviews..._

_Okay, so fasten your belts for what's coming, it's__ becoming really complicated from here. But it's just because my brain is such a mess, and so it's not the best chapter... please don't hate the story after that! Promise, after that it's action time! Hope you still enjoy reading!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Brave 10 or any of its characters._

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**Chapter 5: At Yuki's, the new bakery! Come discover the tasty cakes!**

Even the most clueless Japanese citizen had seen the Minister of Defense's face at least once in his life; not knowing about him was like not knowing Japan still had an emperor! So when asked about this government member, people would automatically have a mental picture of a young and sharp-looking man, devoid of smile and wearing impeccable suits. The ones with a little political culture would think about the most recent reforms he had carried out, and strong feelings of respect or resent would be obvious in their voices.

And when hearing about the Japanese Minister of Defense, one would surely be convinced the man was strong-willed and self-confident.

The picture Saizou had of the man in question wasn't far from the clueless citizen's picture (being a spy didn't necessarily mean knowing everything on any power-related subject, apparently...). That's why he was just _not_ ready for what happened after the heavy doors of the office opened.

A man in a suit went out, shooting anxious glances at the odd group consisting of Yukimura, Rokuro, Isanami and Saizou. His gaze then lingered on the herd of breathless bodyguards and he was really starting to freak out when a large palm landed on his shoulder. He turned around with a startled cry, and at this very moment he pretty much looked like a scared rabbit hunted down by a hungry pack of wolves.

Yukimura's already wide smile seemed to broaden to the size of the Cheshire Cat's at the reaction of his friend to his greeting pat; the man's expression instantly turned into a puzzled frown. The two men stayed silent for a while, staring at each other.

Then, unexpectedly, Yukimura turned his smile to his comrades and declared in an amused tone:

'This is the Japanese Minister of Defense, Touyama Shinpachi. Shin-chan, you already know Rokuro, this cute girl is Isanami, and here's her grumpy boyfriend, Saizou.'

All at once, several voices could be heard in the corridor, conveying different feelings.

'Don't call me that...' Embarrassment.

'_Boyfriend?!_ 'the hell?' Indignation.

'Am I really cute?' Joy.

And yes,Yukimura liked to check on his manipulating skills sometimes.

In the midst of his protesting, Saizou was hit by a wave of realization, and his long-held mental image broke down to pieces.

'You... _seriously_? You're the Japanese _Minister of Defense_?!' the spy uttered, baffled.

A silence followed his comment, Rokuro and Yukimura frozen where they stood, obviously wary of the reaction the man would give. All faces slowly turned to the Minister after another ten seconds of the awkward silence.

Saizou, who had been the one to say the untactful words, opened his mouth to ease the tense mood. Before he could say anything, something seemed to snap in the Minister, and he suddenly looked up to the spy.

And this time, his eyes did not hold the glint of terror of the rabbit hiding in bushes. No. This time he was the starving wolf leading the pack. Poor Saizou was pushed forcefully into the role of the rabbit. But, just as the spy's brain was registering the information of a new threat, the murderous intents in the Minister's eyes were gone.

Standing in the corridor, breathless, Saizou wondered if what he had seen was real. Taking a good look at Touyama Shinpachi and seeing him in his former scared and harmless posture, he decided he must have imagined everything.

But when a snickering Rokuro walked past him, he knew.

_They're all mad,_ he stated before following Isanami into the office, sighing heavily.

The room was just as the spy remembered it to be. All over the walls were traditional Japanese paintings, and at the center stood old, elegant furniture. One of the walls had been replaced by a huge bay window, letting warm sun rays enter and illuminate the wooden desk and the armchairs circling it. It didn't really feel like a Minister's office, really. Only the Japanese flag above the desk and the two severe butlers at the door to remind the guests of where they truly were.

Saizou sat on one of the armchairs facing the Minister, next to an excited Isanami and a bored Rokuro. As to Yukimura, he stood next to his friend with a smile on. The two butlers were ordered to bring a TV in the room and to wait in the corridor. And then it began.

'The video is clearer than any explanation I could give', Touyama-san told before closing the curtains, putting a tape in the old-looking recorder, and pressing start button. In the dark room, Saizou held his breath for what was coming.

The picture of a white building appeared on the screen.

_The national research center_, the spy recognized immediately.

As if to confirm his thought, the voice of a man resonated in the room, sounding quite enthusiastic:

'Today is the 25th of September 2000!', it said as the camera got closer to the building entrance. 'The first experiment on Cake can finally be carried out, here at the national research center!'

Next to him, Isanami's body tensed in her armchair, eyes wide with shock. 'Superior-sama!' her voice uttered in a strangled whisper. Yukimura also seemed to notice the girl's behavior, and a wave of sadness washed over his features for a bit. A flow of questions filled Saizou's mind, but he held his mouth shut and kept on watching the video.

The picture on the screen had changed; the man had entered the building and was now in a room filled with lab coats-clad scientists. After introducing each one of them, the man walked to a cage sitting prominently at the center of the room, full of mice. Next to it was a sort of laptop connected to several wires and complicated instruments.

'The experiment is simple: we're going to test Cake on a bunch of hungry mice, to see... well, to which point it can read people's, or here rather _animals'_, minds. And since hunger is surely the easiest feeling to detect, at first the only thing we'll put in the cage is a pot of kernels in the right corner, just above the reach of the mice. If it works as we want it to, we'll elaborate the kind of feelings Cake will have to read. But enough talking, now on with the experiment!'

As the man had told, a pot of kernels was put in the cage, earning high-pitched squeals from the mice trapped in it. Then one of the scientists approached the weird laptop, and with obvious skills set it on. A red light appeared, directed to the guinea pigs...mice.

The camera was showing a big screen on the opposite wall of the room. A silence had settled, only broken by the cries and the scratching of the mice. Every one seemed to be waiting for something to happen on the screen.

When the word 'HUNGER' appeared in capital letters, several voices could be heard, conveying nothing but joy and relief.

But then, something unexpected happened.

The screen turned pitch black.

'Look!'

After this one exclamation, silence ensued, this time not even broken by the cries of the mice.

The camera returned to pointing at the cage, and something seemed indeed off: not one mouse was trying to get to the pot of food any more. They were all wandering aimlessly.

Suddenly, the camera was back to the screen, where the word 'HUNGER' had reappeared, and back to the cage again. Every body in the room froze in place, eyes glued to the mice.

For if the mice were still hungry, they didn't care about the nuts any more; they were now all going for each other, in a cacophony of scratches and battle cries. It was like they had suddenly _erased_ the concept of sharing from their minds. The sight of the battle was just... disgusting.

After a good ten seconds of the butchery in the cage, the tape came to an end. Touyama-san put the TV screen aside and opened the curtains, letting warm light in.

'Before you can say anything...' Yukimura started.

'I'll help.' the spy stated simply.

'Not that you had a choice here, but thank you.' Yukimura said, a mischievous smile on, before turning to Isanami: 'What about you, dear?'

'I... I want to know.'

'Alright then, let's go on with the story.'

And with that, Yukimura started explaining what he knew of Cake, which was pretty close to _everything_ since he had been part of the project from the very beginning.

CAKE was in fact an acronym for 'Concealing All Knowledge of Evil' and the name of a new technology able to read people's minds, developed at the beginning of the century in Japan's laboratories. The cassette was the only witness left of the first experiment on this machine, for the day after it was carried out, it was decided unanimously to destroy the prototype and hide the data (and the people concerned) in a safe place. Every one was aware of the danger Cake represented, and it was renamed Cookie, for 'Control Over One's Knowledge and Ideas Elimination'. Indeed, if the prototype had been able to see just fine the hunger in the mice' minds, it had also changed their way of thinking, rendering their selfishness more important than their survival instincts. The consequences the use of this technology on human beings would bring...

'...would be disastrous.'

Yukimura paused, sensing anger among his little audience. For once he was taken aback as to the reasons hidden behind it. He tried to search Saizou's fuming face for a possible explanation.

The spy got up, fists clenching at his sides, facing the powerful man.

'_Disastrous, _huh?', he spat, disdain obvious in his voice.

There was a pregnant pause, in which understanding lit Yukimura's eyes. So he had put the pieces together to that point already...

'We had no choice but to do this, and you know it.' he calmly answered, trying to keep the trembling in his own voice unnoticed.

'No choice? _No choice_?!' Saizou brought his fist down on the desk. Hard. A feline growl escaped his lips as he approached the man menacingly. 'You had a little _child_ play the part of the sacrifice! And you're telling me you didn't have a _choice_!' At this point, the spy's voice had become barely audible.

'This conversation is no use. Didn't they teach you when you began as a spy to put your personal feelings aside?'

'Too late.'

A punch flew in the direction of Yukimura, who was just not able to avoid the blow at this very moment... and had to resign to rely on Rokuro.

Saizou let out a frustrated cry when the purple-eyed man blocked his attack, but soon got a hold of himself.

'We're leaving.' he declared, more to himself than to his blue-haired friend, before grabbing her arm and walking to the door of the office.

'Wha-'

And he dragged Isanami out of the building, bubbles of anger and indignation growing inside of him at each step.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

_So?... I know I'm not the best for writing explanations..._

_Still, please tell me what you thought, even if it's bad! If you consider it too much of a mess, then I'll try rewriting it!_


	7. Butterflies and tornadoes

_Hey guys? Hope you're all fine! Well, here comes a new chapter!_

_Thanks to Xx-Hate's-A-Strong-Word-xX! Your reviews are always fun to read and really really heartwarming! Thank you!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Brave 10 or any of its characters._

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**Chapter 6: Butterflies and tornadoes**

Saizou was always able to hide his feelings behind a polite smile, when it came to missions for his agency. In fact, he was a genius at not judging other people's intentions... _had been_, apparently. Since his meeting with a certain blue haired girl, he had let his guard down. He had started trusting people again.

_Look where it's brought you...,_ he thought to himself, suddenly bitter about the whole situation.

'Saizou, stop!' a voice cried just behind him, making him turn around. Isanami fidgeted a little bit before adding: 'don't you think we should go back there...?'

The man's face fell, and he resumed walking without answering, deep in thought.

_How could they even do that to a little girl? _His long experience in the spying world had made his reasoning very effective; he was able to deduce things out of the tiniest clues. He couldn't be mistaken. The Cake-team (the name he had found for Yukimura, the Minister and the scientists on the video) had somehow used Isanami to hide the password to the data when she was barely still a baby, and made her live in a temple with the scientist of the video (she had called him 'Superior-sama', hadn't she?). They -Yukimura and the Minister of Defense included- had let her be captured and tortured by the Yakuza...

Anger built up in him again, and he sped up his pace.

After a long and rather tense walk, the two fellows arrived in front of a battered building, in a residential neighborhood. The street was completely empty, if it wasn't for a stray cat hunting for food in an outside bin.

The spy rummaged in his pocket and took out keys. He entered the building and drove Isanami up the stairs and in a little apartment.

'It's my place. We'll be safe for now.' he stated before closing the door behind them.

The girl's face blushed furiously at those words.

'We're at your p-p-place?' she stuttered, her voice way higher than usual.

Silence fell, and she seemed to realize something.

'...you...alone time...together...brought me here...kyaaa!' she babbled.

'You... what are you thinking...'

A sigh escaped the spy's lips. It was going to be hard living with Isanami... Why, oh why, had he not been able to keep his feelings for himself back in the office? But, no use regretting the past. He wasn't even sure to be still considered an ally by the Cake-team any more.

He had a quick shower and changed into a clean set of clothes, while Isanami continued babbling on the sofa, and then he prepared a little something to eat... but recalled his first meal with the blue haired girl and resigned emptying his whole fridge.

After lunch, Saizou declared he was going to gather more information about Cake and the plan of the Yakuza concerning the data... and that Isanami was not to go out and just wait for him in the meantime.

At that, the spy earned a dark glare, followed by an outraged 'No way! I'm coming too!' He was pondering the strategy to use in order to make her stay put for a couple of hours (bait her with food? _No, I don't have anything left... _Tie her and put her on the couch? _She'd definitely find a way out... and start attracting danger like a magnet..._) when the girl walked in front of the door of the apartment and stated enthusiastically:

'Well, since you obviously think I'm unable to take care of myself (she received a wry stare, and totally ignored it), what about a little bet? If I get to keep you from going out the door, then I'm coming with you on your mission!' She had a dazzling smile on at the end of her proposition. 'Fair enough, right?', she added when she noted the man in front of her was hesitating.

A sigh escaped said man's lips, and eventually he agreed, sure to win anyway.

A smile slowly crept to his lips, and he took a loose fighting stance while Isanami closed her eyes and breathed in and out at an even pace, her eyes opening again several seconds later, glistening with confidence. The spy had already made a move, preparing to simply push her out of the way without hurting her. As his open palm was about to make contact with the girl's arm, Saizou lost his balance and gasped. His opponent had suddenly disappeared from his sight, leaving him face to face with the door.

Quickly turning around, he was just barely able to avoid a hit aimed right at his solar plexus by lunging at the sofa and landing away from the door.

_So she can fight, huh?_ he thought, slightly shocked, his eyes focusing on Isanami once more. _No, that's not it_, he corrected inwardly after observing her approach him, _she's not quite fighting... It's like she was... _A kick flew in his direction, graceful and dangerously precise._ ...like she was_ dancing_!_ he realized, dodging the blow by one tiny millimeter.

And indeed, the girl in front of his amazed self seemed to be flying around him in a steady rhythm, threatening to take down his perfect stance each time and landing without a sound the next instant.

But the most striking matter, hard to believe even on his part, was that the spy was having_ fun_ sparring with the girl. The smile that had faltered after he had discovered Isanami could fight came back, and didn't leave him for the next five minutes, as the two spun in the room, trying to find a way to win the bet.

At one point Saizou found himself barely a meter away from the door, while the blue haired girl landed right on the sofa ever so gracefully.

_It's my chance!_ he thought, rushing to said door... and turning his back to his opponent. Big mistake. Before he could grab the doorknob he was thrown towards the couch with brute force, and was then crushed to it when Isanami jumped on his stomach, a big grin on her face and her cheeks flushed with excitement.

All air left the spy's lungs with a little 'oof', and a voice boomed in his ears, before he finally got to register what had happened to him.

'My win!' the voice squealed, triumphant.

Annoyance made its way to the spy's chest as he felt the girl's weight on him. Not that she was heavy, no, but she wasn't moving one bit from her spot, even after several seconds had passed. He suddenly understood her behavior: she was waiting for him to surrender.

He sighed, still very amused she had beat him where even specialists in various martial arts couldn't compete.

'Fine, fine, you get to come', he uttered, unaware of the consequences this simple sentence would have. The girl instantly set him free, too busy to jump up and down to pay any attention to him any more.

'Tell me something though, where do you get those fighting techniques from?' the spy asked, sincerely curious.

Isanami stopped her victory dance and simply told him in a playful tone:

'What you witnessed was the Warrior Dance created in the temple where I grew up. It's pretty famous... Lots of martial artists used to come and ask the monks to be their instructors. Very few ever succeeded in mastering the steps. Impressive, right?'

.

'So, what are the three basic rules to follow on a mission?' Saizou asked with a teacher-like expression on his face to the girl standing in front of him, currently dressed like a teenage boy, her long blue hair hidden under a cap (the spy had thought of dying them black, but Isanami had rejected categorically). He adjusted his fake mustache and looked at his reflection in the mirror of the bathroom, smirking when he didn't recognize himself at all.

'Hum... the first one is...is...' Isanami stuttered, staring at her feet and blushing in confusion.

'Come on, it's easy! I already told you about them twice!' the spy turned to face her, his voice clearly reproachful. He had spent one whole hour trying to explain the purpose of what they would be doing and the basics of the spying world, all in vain apparently. He frowned. What was he going to do with a partner like that? It was no joke any more, no little sparring for the sake of a bet; they would _really_ be risking their lives.

'Okay then, just remember these three simple rules.' he resigned after a blank.

The girl raised her head, listening intently.

'First, always follow my orders. If I tell you to jump from a bridge, then you jump. If I tell you to flee, then you flee. Simple enough?'

A nod of the head was her only answer.

'Second... Always follow my orders. And third, last but not least: always follow my orders. Alright?'

'Hey, but that's just one rule!' Isanami cried, furrowing her eyebrows.

'That's the point.'

Saizou grinned, and got out of the bathroom, leaving a grumbling Isanami in there. _It's so much fun to have the roles reversed sometimes! _the spy couldn't help but think, chuckling inwardly.

When her fellow came out, he explained her once again how the mission would take place.

'We're going to the Contemporary Art Museum of Tokyo. This place is called the 'Yakuza palace' in our field, and it's never a waste of time to drop by if you want information. When in the gallery, you stick with me, okay? If you don't you'll get noticed in two seconds, and it'll be too late. So don't go further than a meter away from me, and don't _ever_ lose me from your sight. Am I being clear?'

'Yes, sir!' the girl answered, a smile plastered on her face and a hand on her forehead to imitate a US soldier.

_Huh… why do I have a bad feeling about this all…?_

.

Saizou would never have guessed the Contemporary Art Museum would be so packed with people. Usually, it was just so... empty. You know, empty like only a museum can be, with its particular smell of old stuff crumpling in their glass cages; its particular atmosphere that makes you want to sit and never stand again, bored to death... However, today, the feeling the place conveyed was one of movement... almost one of _excitement_. He took some time to check they were at the right place. _If it's going to be like that, we won't be able to overhear anything interesting... _he pondered, his mood dampening.

A bright smile met his eyes when he glanced at his mission partner.

'Let's go in!' she cried enthusiastically.

And in they went.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

_As always, feel free to tell me what you thought of the chapter._

_Next time will be the real mission!_

_See you!_


	8. You just don't want Murphy to be right

**Chapter 7: Sometimes you just don't want Murphy to be right**

Saizou banged on the screen-window at the top of the wall with all of his strength, to no avail. What had he done to find himself in such a desperate situation? Isanami was nowhere to be seen, and the longer he spent stuck in here, the more vulnerable to the Yakuza she became.

The spy cursed. Their little mission had started off alright, and yet here he was, helpless, at the mercy of whoever had set this trap for him...

"F*ck!"

.

"Welcome to the Contemporary Art Museum of Tokyo! Check out the newest exhibit: "The Media on Top of the World"! Famous artists took part in the project, leading to the gathering of more than..." a voice in the main hall kept on announcing enthusiastically, as hundreds of people were lined in front of the ticket office.

Saizou searched the place for spots he would recognize, but the whole decoration had been redone for the hosting of the new exhibit, and he could only make out few places. That, and the huge crowd of people inside the building, would make it tough for them to gather information...

_Still worth giving it a try?_

After a good half an hour of waiting, the two fellows were finally able to buy two tickets and to head toward the exhibition hall.

Behind the spy, Isanami practically bouncing on her feet, babbling to herself excitedly.

In front of him, a whole army of hidden and dangerous Yakuza plotting.

"Let's go in..." he whispered more to himself than to his one-day partner. She wasn't listening anyway so...

He couldn't take one step before being shoved into a new line of people waiting to go through the security portals. Trying to get his bad temper and lack of patience in check, he attempted to get through the flow of people. If his spying skills were to be of any use, it was now! In less than thirty seconds he was at the portal and in the exhibition part of the museum. Now all he had to do was wait for Isanami to get there too... He groaned. Why did all the sentences of this story seem to have 'wait' in them lately? He suddenly missed the time he was fighting in the den of the Yakuza to get himself and Isanami out alive, and the time he had managed to escape the claws of his agency and the same old Yakuza...

His eyes went through the room full of pieces of art. Or was a spoon attached to the ceiling above a screaming vintage radio considered a piece of art nowadays? He admitted he wasn't an ace when it came to art, but he still had doubts about the whole it's-in-a-museum-so-it's-art-you-ignorant-douche crap.

That's when he spotted a particularly strange set-up: at the very center of the room, lying on a mountain of crashed objects, was a huge TV screen displaying the white light of a room. The image was so vivid Saizou wondered for a second if the room was real behind the screen, but he soon dismissed the thought for lack of interest. And then he saw the name of the mountain, and his blood ran cold.

_Spying is bad, better eat lots of cookies!_

His gaze rested on the word 'cookies' for a good ten seconds, and back to the first word of this very strange name. Why was it so linked to his life? To his mission? To Isanami?

"Oh crap!"

Isanami. He had almost forgotten about her.

Turning around in a swift movement, he suddenly scanned the room for his partner. Moments later he got a glimpse of her figure standing behind a loud American couple arguing with the guard about keeping their forks and spoons inside the museum. _Alright, you can start breathing again. Everything's okay._

She smiled and waved at him when their eyes met, which led to him releasing a long and heavy sigh.

Everything was okay... for now.

_...when have I become such a scared old lady?_

Okay. All the waiting was probably just getting to his brain. Yeah. Wouldn't the author just please speed things up a bit?

Finally, Isanami made it to where he had been standing for several days; after cutting the roots that had formed at the base of his shoes, they were finally able to get moving and actually _do_ something interesting.

They walked (and bounced, in Isanami's case) through the exhibition. At this point they had to spot the Yakuza among the crowd, without being spotted by them. They trailed behind two tuxedo-dressed guys who practically had 'look, I'm part of the mafia!' tags on their backs. Their dark sunglasses didn't let their expressions show, but Saizou thought he saw the tail of a dragon tattooed on one arm. He didn't need any more. _As long as Isanami's features stay hidden in her teenage boy disguise, nothing bad should happe..._

Saizou's thoughts trailed off and his mind was washed with horror when he heard a young voice call after someone close to him.

"Miss! You've lost your cap!"

_Please let it be someone else than Isanami, please let it be someone else than Isanami, plea..._

Bubble gum blue strands filled his vision.

_Oh, crap..._ he thought again, readying himself for what was undoubtedly coming.

Saizou froze completely for a split seconds before taking action. With just a tad of luck, the Yakuza in the museum, _if _such people were even in the place, wouldn't pay attention to the stream of azure hair; for, quite frankly, who would make the connection? Surely there were at least a dozen people with blue hair in the whole city of Tokyo. Who would make a big deal of such a common trait?

The spy almost (almost.) started laughing hysterically at his pitiful attempt at optimism and resigned beating the bad guys who would stand in his way to a pulp.

He assessed the situation quickly.

And let out a curse.

His inner monologue had taken him longer than he had thought, obviously. It had lasted at least enough time for the two tattooed men they had been following to call their peers. It seemed they had all received instructions as to what to do if they saw a blue-haired girl wandering around... That could only mean trouble for them.

_And I said it would be safer with her hair dyed black... _Saizou sighed inwardly.

Isanami and him were now surrounded by caricatures of mafiosi in striped tuxedos, with scarred faces hidden by dark glasses.

Behind the circle of Yakuza stood all the tourists and visitors, their faces turned to them as if they thought some sort of show had begun. The mass of people was ever-growing, so much that already he couldn't see past the crowd. The only thing he made out was the mountain of objects he had seen earlier. Maybe if they could reach it, then they would be able to escape...

_To go where?_ Well, that would have to be sorted out in time.

But first things first.

As Saizou took hold of Isanami's hand and gestured quietly at the pile in the distance, however, one of the men took a step toward them and started talking. He was a middle-aged occidental man with a particularly bright (and ugly) set of clothes, and spoke with a strong Italian accent, making everything he said in Japanese that much more comical. Had they not been in such a desperate situation, Saizou would have probably burst out laughing at the eerie melody escaping his twisted lips.

"Well, well, what do we have here? A spy on the run and the most wanted target in Japan." The man let out what he surely meant to be an evil laughter, but sounded more like a high-pitched cackle. Said spy and target exchanged a perplexed look, accompanied by a sly smirk on the spy's part. He was starting to relax at the sound of the Japanese-speaking Italian mafioso and his cliché speech. Around them, the Yakusa were remaining completely still; the funny guy must be more powerful than he seemed... The people around however, blissfully unaware of the situation, started giggling at the scene displaying in front of them.

"You had better surrender right now..." Again, the man's threatening tone rang like a joke to the spy's ears. This could actually turn out entertaining!

"Funny how our points of view are different, err, Mr. Sicilian Godfather. _I_ think we had better beat you guys to a pulp. Bleeding, preferably." he coyly retorted before giving a squeeze on Isanami's hand and preparing to take action. Fast.

The man's face (let's just call him the Godfather from now) had indeed grown several shades of red, to settle on a very healthy scarlet.

"Branco di scarafaggi, non è cazzo con me!" * he barked before shouting in the general direction, back in Japanese: "Get them!"

Saizou took off in the direction of the messy pile of object, a feeling of freedom spreading in his whole body. He had come to forget how it felt to spy, and to have to escape all kinds of desperate situations, with all the Isanami-induced stress of the past few days.

But all this was actually fun! No, better, exhilarating!

The temporary partners landed on top of the mountain of objects, smashing an ancient TV set and bits of a beaten couch as they did, and earning them a few 'oooh's and claps on the audience's part.

_On with the fight, now... _The Yakuza had suddenly pulled a whole pack of weapons, from knife to baseball bat, out of nowhere and were approaching their new fortress menacingly. The spy noticed with an inward sigh that not one of them seemed to be carrying a gun. That could only mean Isanami was too precious to risk her being killed before she'd revealed whatever there was to reveal... But what could that bit of information be, to bear such importance to the Yakuza families and the _government_? _Oh, right. The password._

Saizou shot a quick glance at Isanami, who in response nodded ever so slightly, and they positioned themselves back to back.

In a heartbeat, all hell broke loose.

The spy avoided several metal bars aimed at his head and torso and twisted them to make their owners let go. Two well-aimed kicks and a dictionary-throw later, the nearest assailants lay on the pile of objects, unmoving. One by one, Saizou took his opponents down, and he could see Isanami do the same thing behind him.

Though, clearly, it was not enough. A whole army had been posted in the museum...

The spy received a mean hit in the ribcage and a cut on the leg after several opponents showed up at his side at the same time. He managed to send them to Unconscious Land, grunting, but soon other tuxedo-dressed soldiers filled in the spots.

Shooting another glance behind his back, he realized the blue haired girl fighting alongside him had also become less efficient; a gush of blood streamed down her right cheek, and one of her arm was bent at an odd angle, and hung, useless, at her side. He drove back another surge of Yakuza and looked around, growing desperate.

Right, nothing but a pile of objects packed with Yakuza. Left, nothing more. Behind, nothing but more Yakuza and a distressed Isanami. Up?

_Yes!_

A hook (a piece of art?) was hanging from the ceiling just above them, all ready for good use. It represented all their hope, and as meager as it was, Saizou was still willing to chance it. Even with a broken arm, Isanami would be able to reach it, were she high enough on the little mountain...

Now was the time to get things organized.

Taking a hold of a metal bar at his feet, Saizou held off the nearest Yakuza and turned to Isanami.

"Up!" he shouted, but at that moment a striped-tuxedo clad arm grabbed the girl's broken arm, earning a pained cry.

Saizou ripped off the Yakuza from Isanami with a high kick and landed farther down the mountain, where he couldn't reach the hook with a simple jump any more. Though, even if_ he_ couldn't, Isanami still could.

"The hook!"

The blue haired girl only stared at him, eyes wide with panic.

_Why is she hesitating?There was only one rule to follow, can't she even do that?!_

"Now!" he ordered before being engulfed in a circle of opponents. He had to turn his attention back to them in order to try and stay alive.

Isanami must have jumped out of reach, because suddenly there seemed to be twice the number of Yakuza around him.

He leapt in the air in a desperate attempt to get closer to the center of the pile of objects. Someone pulled on one of his ankles, making him land unsteadily on a broken computer screen. Too late his feet stepped on less slippery matter; he didn't have time to avoid the uppercut aiming right at his chin.

There was a loud crack and pain shot through his scull as he fell on a pile of bodies already strewing the floor. He tried to stand back up, but arms had lifted his body from the ground. He didn't even have it in him to struggle any more.

Soon he was thrown in a brightly lit room, and he heard a cackle that oddly resembled the evil laugh of the Sicilian Godfather over his head.

Then something closed with a pop, and he was left on his own, barely conscious.

"...Isanami..."

. . .

_* "You cockroaches, don't you f*ck with me!"_


	9. Of magic and manipulation

**Chapter 8: Of magic and manipulation**

When Saizou finally made it to his apartment, he was feeling so tired and sore all over that he simply crashed on his couch, shoes still on, and closed his eyes with a sigh. His life had gotten so complicated since his encounter with Isanami, a few weeks before: betrayed by his own agency, by his only friend there, then thrown ruthlessly into an arena full of blood-thirsty Yakuza and politicians, and expected to protect the object of their madness on his own. It had been just a matter of time before his efforts crumbled at his feet and he was caught.

And caught he had been.

The spy shivered at the unpleasant memory of being locked up in that white room, with no means of getting away, and nothing to expect but certain death...

But he was well over failure. Who succeeded in everything they did, any way? It was only natural to be faced with failure once in a while.

_But not when lives are at stake... _Saizou thought bitterly, rubbing his temples with his thumbs and attempting to suppress another shiver. He took off his shoes and shook his head to clear it. It was no use any more. He had made it clear to the bunch of Cake-Cookie freaks that he wouldn't get involved with them. Ever again. Had not even said goodbye to the blue haired girl before storming out the mansion, the sarcastic gaze of Rokuro following his form the whole time.

Anger shot through him as he remembered that gaze upon him, so full of mirth at his failed mission... Oh, how he wanted to take that look off of the blue-haired man's face! With a couple of well-aimed punches, preferably... Maybe he'd saved Isanami from the Yakuza in time, maybe he'd freed Saizou in a mere flicker of his pinky finger, but...

The spy groaned.

All those things had happened weeks ago already. It was no use dwelling on them.

No use.

Calm.

Saizou eventually fell into a dreamless sleep, exhaustion taking over.

.

_Tap, tap._

Consciousness returned like a wave. Saizou's living room was silent, if not for the sound of his steady breathing, and the occasional creak his couch gave. He was about to dive into his sleepiness again...

_Tap._

That definitely didn't come from the couch. After several seconds of silence, Saizou decided it wasn't important, and went back to dozing peacefully...

_Tap, tap, tap._

The spy groaned.

_Tap._

And got up, fighting dizziness. He rubbed his eyes slowly, and then turned to the only window in the room, where the annoying sound was coming from.

Blinked.

Rubbed his eyes again.

No, the image was not going away.

An _owl_ was really rasping its beak on his window, looking at him with wide and scornful eyes. And obviously waiting for him to open said window.

"What the _hell_?!"

The brown animal gave a faint hoot, its eyes not leaving the form of the spy.

When it started tapping against the glass again, Saizou admitted defeat and opened the window, wondering just why the damn thing wouldn't go away.

And why the _hell_ he was letting an owl inside his flat.

As soon as the opening was wide enough for its body, the animal hopped inside, unfolding its – admittedly – beautiful wings and flying to the couch, where it landed gracefully. All the while, the man stood there, speechless, at a complete loss for what to do now.

Then the owl turned to stare at him again, intelligence shining in its eyes. Slowly, elegantly, it raised a foot toward him, and only at that moment did he realize the slim white object attached to it.

He choked on thin air when he realized just what it was.

An envelop.

A sentence suddenly rang in his ears.

"_You're a wizard, Harry."_

He burst out laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation (his first good laugh in a while, come to think of it), and attempted to untie the envelop from the foot of the owl, which gave a little outraged hoot at his outburst.

The thing was so expressive Saizou mused it could well have been a human being. Hell, most human beings he saw or knew weren't as expressive as this owl!

As he finally managed to take the damn letter from the foot, the owl took off once again, not sparing him a side glance, and sprang outside, flying gracefully in lazy circles.

The spy finally went back to the letter that would without a doubt invite him to take classes in Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

His eyes narrowed at the address written on the white surface of the paper.

_To my favorite little spy, sleeping on the couch of his living room_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_The world, somewhere around the Milky Way._

The author of those lines made absolutely no doubt, and Saizou felt suddenly very much awake. At that point, he would have given anything for an actual letter from Hogwarts, or from _anyone_, for that matter, if it meant not having to deal with _this_.

Intuition told him burning this letter down wouldn't solve the problem, either. The mad man behind this had surely read the _Harry Potter_ books, and wouldn't hesitate to drown him under piles of identical letters until he gave in. How the man had managed to tame an owl to deliver a package was beyond him. But then again, it was _Yukimura_ he was currently trying to figure out. The man who had set a whole Ministry at his heels like he owned the place. There was simply no trying to understand him, Saizou knew.

Regardless, he sighed, putting the letter unceremoniously on the table of his living room, still unopened.

Soon after that, he left the apartment, the sight of the envelop too disturbing for his own good.

.

Saizou turned every bit of information he owned again and again in his mind, going back to his apartment after a long day of spying on people he knew were linked to the Cake-Cookie case. The last few weeks of gathering information had proven quite enlightening, to say the least. He made the mental list of what he knew, for the umpteenth time.

First, his former agency had started working with – or for – the Yakuza of Tokyo, that much was obvious; both spies and Yakuza were entering and leaving the headquarters of the agency as if it was perfectly normal. And in broad daylight. From his spot on the other side of the street, Saizou had sighed at the lack of professionalism. He had already taken part in missions with the Yakuza, of course (his agency had never been picky when it came to wealthy clients – and who could provide swarms of money better than the mafia?), but always under some sort of cover. And in any case, never in the open like that.

Second, they had already been working with the mafia when Isanami's temple had been attacked – that much he had gathered after following a group of former colleagues stealthily (man, they were really missing the whole point of what "spying" meant, talking about their missions in the street... But then again, who was he to complain? They had provided him with plenty of information). He had also learnt on this occasion that no one really knew what shape wore the code Isanami was protecting; it could very well be anything, from a small object, to a tattoo, to the knowledge itself. Only the Superior Monk at the temple had known, it seemed.

Third, mafia and spies together were preparing a big raid on the Yukimura Manor to get to Isanami. Saizou didn't know when, or even how, but he knew it would be something big. There had been a tenseness in the faces of his former colleagues that he couldn't have missed.

Saizou frowned as he reached a particularly dark point in his knowledge: why did the mafia – and every powerful man in Japan, really – want to get their hands on Cookie so bad? Power they had already plenty, and they hadn't really needed to brainwash the population in order to gain it... The spy sighed. His only guess was that power called for more power, and that once you had some, you always ended wanting more.

Then again... what about Yukimura? The spy had sensed something fishy about this character from the start (aside from the fact that he was completely mad), and that had been one of the reasons that had made him go solo again... And the rumors he had heard about the powerful man gathering a secret army of trained fighters had given him the creeps... Yukimura was really too weird, and too powerful, for his own good...

Saizou cursed under his breath when his thoughts wandered to the letter still resting on the table in his living room, unopened.

_It's not as if I had a choice, huh... _he resigned himself, nearing his apartment.

He took his time to get in, to take off his shoes and coat, to eat a little something in the kitchen, to have a shower... but soon (too soon, in his opinion), Saizou was faced with the white envelop, and he took it as he would have taken a deathly snake; cautiously, he opened it.

There was a lump in his throat, and as he read through the paper, he knew Yukimura had him. Hell, he had had him from the start.

He cursed again, loudly this time.

_Dear My favorite spy,_ the letter read,

_I hope you have not been feeling too lonely over the past weeks; I, on the other hand, had to take back the pieces of my broken heart together after you broke things up with me!_

_Really, that was cruel..._

_But I knew you would come around at one point, and open this letter which Potter has so kindly delivered to you._

_I have gone out of my way to offer you a job, my unemployed little spy, as a Brave at my service. I would have on that day, but you were gone before I had time to say anything... You must have gathered what the Braves are in one of your every day missions, I guess..._

_But let me introduce them properly. Shin-chan, the Minister you met the other day, has given me the task to protect the Key to Cookie, and I have come up with this idea; to gather experienced fighters, a select few, who will ensure the code is never revealed, and the data never stolen. Of course, Isanami and Rokuro are of the Braves, as well as you, now that you are reading this!_

_So I would like you to meet me at the Yukimura Manor to have a debriefing on the situation this morning, as soon as you are ready._

_Oh, and in case you failed to read my loving letter right after receiving it, or if you didn't feel like seeing me or working for me (now that would hurt my fragile heart!), I have prepared a little surprise for you, that I am sure you won't be able to resist. As I said earlier, Isanami is a member of my Braves, and as one, she is entitled to missions to, for example, meet the... let's say applicants, to the Braves. So tonight, at nine, she's going to run a job interview with a man I would like to hire. And let's just say he... to say the least, he is not aware of my plans concerning him, and he might not give the best of reactions._

_Just saying, of course..._

_Below is the address in Tokyo where the interview will take place. If you would like to take part in it, and only if you would like to. I would never dream of forcing things on your frail shoulders, you know that._

_Love,_

_Your favorite employer._

Then there was the address where he'd sent Isanami to her sure death.

No, Isanami could take care of herself.

But she was the target of every creepy guy in Japan! There's a point to which one can take care of oneself...

Saizou crumpled the paper in his hands, already knowing what he was going to do. It sickened him to see how much Yukimura knew about him; about what he did on a daily basis; about who he was.

He checked quickly the time on the clock hanging on the wall.

Quarter to eight...

Hesitation had never been his forte, so Saizou went to prepare himself quickly and practically ran out of his apartment, letter still in hand, before he had time to change his mind.

He would arrive on time...

And with a bit of luck, he wouldn't have to reveal his presence at all.

And then, he wouldn't have to get involved any more...

Or that was what he hoped.


End file.
